Top 7 things a Malaysian need to know before applying for Passport Malaysia

My husband and I went to Immigration Department at Wangsa Maju branch on Monday to renew our passport and we’re so happy that the process went smooth. Prior to applying, my husband was worried that his name was blacklisted. I told him if he’s not doing anything wrong with the Police or Income Tax Dept or PTPTN, he should be OK. Anyway, I searched the net on how to get information on blacklisted traveler and was happy to find out that we can check the status online.

You need to bring 2 recent identical photographs taken in front of plain white or off-white background and you should wear dark coloured clothing covering shoulders and chest (as white is the background). Alternately, the immigration department offers photo service, you need not worry to much about photo. They have scarfs and jackets available there in the photobooth.

Only bring your MyKad and passport. You do not have to make copies of these documents, and there is no need to take passport photos. Your passport photo will be taken at the counter when your number is called.

4. Lost Passport

If it’s missing or lost, you have to lodge a police report and bring the report when applying for a new one. Don’t forget to make a copy for their record. Please take note that application for replacement of lost passport will be sent to Immigration Department Headquarters, Putrajaya Malaysia for decision/process which will take approximately 3-4 months.

5. Waiting hours

Effective from 11 May 2010, Malaysia international passport applications will be processed within an hour after payment is made. Please bear in mind that, the waiting for your number to be called is about one hour also depending on the crowd. So, expect two hours.

6. Passport Fees

Fees are as per below:
RM200.00 for 5 years

Special Fees
RM100.00 for 5 years
[Eligibility for special Fees: Children below 12 years old or student below 21 years old with proof to study abroad on the day submission and Haj pilgrims.]

Exemption of payment
Exemption of payment is given to the handicap or disable person on the condition that they produce a letter from the Welfare Department.

7. Passport validity

Your passport must be valid for more than six months – or to be on the safe side – one year. I went to renew my passport after an Immigration officer told me that I cannot travel on a passport with only 6 months validity.

Note: I am just giving tips of what you need to apply, for other enquiries, please contact Immigration Department: 03-8000 8000 or visit their website: Immigration Malaysia

How are you ? I just back from overseas .I lost my passport in pakistan .lucky my friend help me within 4 months I stranded at there till I back on August 2015.I went there on may from doha .qatar .

Now my mom would like to invite my friend visit malaysia to our home .do you know how to apply visa for him and how we going to check his status is banned in malaysia or not? Cause few years ago he been work for my god mother husband haji days as car washer .I hope to get solution for that .

Thank you for sharing this info. I was wonedering whether my pasport number will change when i renew my pasport. Any idea? could you please kindly comment on this? if possible to my email : andy_hakim85@yahoo.com.

Yes, you will have a new passport number. The have ready stock of passport booklets with number already imprinted on it, so it is impossible to transfer the old number from old passport to new number. Your old passport will be cut at the corners and you got to keep it.

Hmmm, this I have no idea. I tried to call IM to verify this matter but there’s nobody picking up the phone. Will try and ask my friends. Anyway, you can call this number: Talian Khidmat Pelanggan: 1800-22-1777 during office hour. I will post the answer here soon as I also like to know what to do if I am in the same situation.

Ok, lucky I got thru, Phew. The officer said, they will cut the passport but not the one with the VISA page. So, you can still use the visa from the old passport. But please also verify with British High Comm: (+60) (3) 2170 2200

Tiada halangan … but i tot i am .. 😛
But I need to find out too.. if i intend to stay at certain country but I havent find any work there…how, if you could advise me .. i never been out of malaysia…so, mmg tak tahu, what it takes ..

Thank you for the information… I am living in Japan and had applied for new passports at the Tokyo Embassy for several occasions… but now they are telling me that it takes about 3-4 months to process the passport… looks like I will have to return to Msia just to get a new passport…

Hi, I have some question about passport and visa…
My passport going to expire on 26july2013, with my france visa expire on 1july2013. I planning to renew my passport on this October when i return to malaysia for a week . ( I’m not planning to come back in coming 2 years after this return. So is france visa attach in old passport still can be use with my new passport? How about passport number change after renewal? The visa gt printed passport number.Will this visa still can use?? Thanks

Hi Ying, I think your case is the same as Radzuwan (refer above). Immigration will cut the passport but not the one with the VISA page. So, you can still use the visa from the old passport. New passport with new number will be issued, you cannot keep the old number.

But please clarify with the Immigration Dept when you come back to renew your passport.

Hey emila, just a question here. I was robbed (and nearly carjacked) a couple of weeks ago, during which I lost my passport, which I foolishly kept in my laptop bag, having just returned from overseas. I read your post above about the 3-4 months taken for one’s lost passport to be replaced, and this worries me because I’m going overseas in a week’s time.
Is it possible if I simply make a new passport altogether, rather than waiting for 3-4 months to get my previous passport replaced? hmm pretty worried here!

Have you made police report? You need to bring the police report in order to make a new passport. I haven’t had the experience losing my passport but according to Immigration Department, that is the frame of time taken. What you can do is, go to the nearest Immigration department and ask from the officer at the counter whether you can appeal to have your passport made in short time.

I have a question here. My passport is expiring in June 2017 (I know it’s a long long way from now haha) for some reason I would like to renew it. I am currently studying overseas and made a few visits home without my parents permission. Thus?i would love to renew it when I return home soon before my family and I going to China during christmas period end of this year.

Is it possible that I can renew my passport in such condition my expiry date is 4 years plus from now?

It is possible but why you want to renew when the due date in 2017? Oh you mean you don’t want to your parents to find out, is it? It is possible. But let me check with immigration department tomorrow (Monday) and let you know later.

hi, i never hv a passport before. hahaha.. i’ll be travelling to indonesia on may 2013. so, i guess, i’ll need a passport then. i’m thinking of making mine on january 2013. i would like to ask for the fee. the fee now still rm100 for 2 years?

I am not sure Fifi. But most likely you have to come back here to renew because you have less than a year there. Have you inquiry with the Malaysia Embasssy on how to go about it? If you can do it online, I think it will take time also for them to get your old passport before sending your new one.

thanks for the info and i have checked my status and im clear..btw just wanna ask when i was kid i had a passport and its expired already..if im applying it now what category would i be? NEW or RENEW? do i have to bring along the old possport?

Hi Emila,
I apply passport in 2004 and i just relise my passport missing/misplaced and the same time it’s already expired.
Please advise whether i’m eligible for apply again?do i need to lodging police report before apply new passport?
Please advise…If yes..how long the processing will go on?
thanks

Yes, your passport will be treated as active and you need to surrender the old one. Since you misplaced it, you need to file for a missing passport with the police. Bring the report to the Immigration counter and you will be given a form to fill in. However, the form will be sent to HQ in Putrajaya for further action. Takes 4 months.

Emila, you said that if I were to apply, I would only need to bring my IC and two passport photos. I am below 18, and I have read it at the online renewing passport website, and it states there that I have to provide my birth certificate. I lost my birth certificate and I am below 18. How do I do this?

Oh that means you are considered under children? You need to lodge a police report first. Later bring the report to Jabatan Pendaftaran Negara. If you go to the Wangsa Maju branch, the Immigration and Pendaftaran are just beside each other. Else you go to the branch near to you. Bring your parents to be on the safe side.

hi all,here we go..my wife is an indonesian,she left her pasport at previous company where she was working.i need your help that i need to sent her back to home town but,i dont have any idea to get pasport.i was looking for genuine agent but,i did not found.so better to go online and find out legimate process.if anybody hav knowladge about this pls text me call me or e mail to me pls.thank you..
0174940070 e-mail jaseanrai@yahoo.com

Hi, I lost my passport when I travel to London and currently i’m a student study in Bristol. Do they need original birth cert when i apply for replacement passport? or just show them original IC only? I have already made a police report since the day i lost my passport. how about the visa? do they help me to renew aslo?

Hi, my friend she is borned at Sabah but stay at kl after she is borned.. Just now she went to get a new passport (she never have a passport before), they said that she must bring along her birth certificate. But she left her birth certificate at Sabah and we gonna go Thailand on this Friday.. So could u teach what can we do right now?

Hi Ann, I actually never heard of a group passport. You have to refer to Immigration about this. All I know, every Malaysian has to have passport on their own even for a baby (previously it can be in one of the parents’ passport). Maybe what you meant is the visa?

Thanx for your swift reply Emila. Your link for Online Passport is broken, can you please check. Can first time new passport applications be made online as well? Also what is the turn around time for delivery of a new passport?

my passport is still valid for 6months and i want to renew here in kl.can i use new signature with my new passport?im not married that i have new family name, i just want to change my signature, is it possible? i have philippine passport

I have some question since you have lots of experience in Traveling.
I will be traveling to Sydney, Australia in May this year 2013. My passport will be expires end of Oct 2013.
on that period do I still allowed to travel? or can I
go to renew my passport earlier before the expires date on 29 Oct?
Hope to hear from you.

I checked my passport status online & it says “Sila rujuk ke jabatan imigresen terdekat”. Does this mean it’s blacklisted? I have been residing overseas for the last 4 years now. Will I still be able to renew my passport?? What is happening?!

My friend’s passport gets retained by Malaysia Immigration upon returned from UK, for the reason of being overstayed due to overlook the expiry date. Now he has a problem of leaving Malaysia abroad as he is appointed to go on a business trip to China. Is there any ideas to get the problem solved? (Prior on that, several attempts been taken , appeal letter, guarantee letter from lawyer firm, sponsorship letter from China partner, assurance letter from the employed company)

This is a serious matter. He should go and make appointment with Immigration officer to settle this problem. Bring all relevant documents. Or perhaps call first to ask whether he has to go to the HQ or any branch nearby. The number to call is on my posting above.

I am not sure. I renewed my passport last year around August and the requirement is still the same that time. Light blue for the background, I think this is standard regardless of renewal or not.

Polycarbonate is “non-delaminable” and the many layers of materials make the ID documents fused into a single solid card.
It is added to ID page layers to add security to make it difficult for the Malaysian passport to be forged.

No. In order to travel from one country to another, one has to have his passport. Without it, one cannot leave the country. This is basic law in immigration law. Go make new passport even if you have to wait for 3 months or else you will face a detention.

Hello Emila,
My passport expiry date is at 1 December 2013 but I need to go to Thailand at 24 may 2013 for a few days .Would they allowed me?because it is almost 6 months before the expiry date.
and if I overstay for a day or be back on 1 June which is against the 6 months validity rule ,can I still be back? because I’m travelling alone and I don’t want any trouble but I don’t want to renew passport so soon . Hope to hear from you Asap .

My understanding is that you have to have the passport valid for 6 months prior leaving Malaysia and also from any other countries to come back to Malaysia. Better you renew now to avoid problems later.

Hi, emilia. I wanted to know if I’m going to a program in Europe country, my passport validity not more than 6months. Do I need to renew my passport? Depart on 16th of July coming back to Malaysia on 8th of September but passport expired on 4th of January 2014. Hope to hear from you soon. Thank you.

Hi Emilia. Harnizah sini. I found out your site is super informative. I have a question. My passport is expired this 16.4.3013 but I going to Australia this 2.8.2012. Do I need renew my passport? Coz I almost doing it Tp I terbace yg klo nk renew pad port kena maximum 6 month b4 expired bru bole renew. Now I’m confuse.

Hi Sean, I am not sure about MyPR but for a new MyKad, it is RM10. It will be probably of the same rate but do enquire from the counter at JPN. As for passport, Malaysians can get in an hour and again I am not sure for resident with PR status. Please enquire from the IMM counter.

My son have his 1st passport during 1 year old and now he is 4 year old. The photo on the passport is totally different from himself now and the passport have 11 months to it expiry date. He will be traveling with us to Korea, should we renew his passport due to the photo different from him now or wait until expire?

Hi Emila,
I’m a student who will be going to the UK in September. I will be applying for my visa in July and from what I know, they will be keeping my passport as well during the application process which can take up to a month. However , I wish to travel to another country in that same period. Is it possible for the immigration to provide me a temporary passport or any document of some sort to allow me to travel without my current passport? Please advice on this. Thank you! 🙂

Hye emila. Just wanna ask, does the presence of my parents are compulsory if i wanna make a new passport? Im above 18. Really appreciate if you can answer me asap cause ill be travelling next week. ????

How long does it takes to make a new passport? It was my first time making 1 and i know the requirement but i only need to know how long the working days, cuz i only have 9 days left to travel overseas… Please reply thanks

Emila can i ask something this 22 sept i will make a new passport but im from sabah they said that it will takes 5 days processing and my flight is 27 sept will i recieve it on 26? Or is there another fastest way to get it earlier? Please reply as soon as possible thank you

hai sis. my sister study oversea last year and her passport will expired on 24/12/2014, but her flight to malaysia is on 18 or 19 dec 2014. can she come back or what? im still not understand about 6 months validity. is it the same travel from malaysia to oversea and vice versa?

Hai good evening. I’m overstayed at Australia for 5 months. But i come back before my passport expired. Now i get offer from new zealand for job legallly. My passport expired last week. can i renew passport? any penalty?

Hey Good Evening,
I will be going to NZ to further my study next year and I have a student visa. Unfortunately, my passport expires in Jan 2016 so obviously I would have to renew my passport whilst I am in NZ Which will take approx 2-3 months. Can I know, if I can apply for a new passport now, before going to NZ. Meaning I will not have to renew my passport later in 2015 whilst im studying due to the application length.

My friend will be visiting China in March 2015 and is planning to apply for a visa first since the Chinese consular office will be close for the Chinese New Year period and visa application needs about 4 working days to process. He also found out that his passport will be expiring in Sept this year 2015, presently there is about 7 months validity. The question is should we renew the passport first before applying for the visa or apply for the visa first then only renew the passport?
But if we take the 2nd option, the visa is in the old passport before renewal then will he face problem when he travels with the renewed passport later on? Looking forward to your advice, thanks.

Could i pls check with you, as my case is a bit complicating, i am Malaysian married to to a singaporean and residing there, I was a director of a company which closed down due to downfall of business, and well there are some income tax issues i need to clear. i dont dare come to malaysia as they will probably not allow me to come back to singapore and i have kids and my son 7yrs who is type 2 diabetic. my question now is my malaysian passport expired on 10th aug 2014 and it has been almost 6 months i am in singapore bascially illegal. i have applied for singapore citizenship last april 2014 which the status is unknown still, probably i have am going to some bankruptcy issues as failure of business in singapore too. What is your advise as i need to travel to malaysia to visit my sick mum. will i be charged for overstaying in singpaore??? Pls adise. Thank you God Bless.

Hi Emila may I know as an bankruptcy being in overseas working for years and had passport expire soon is there any complication going back to Penang at the immigration entry point. Kindly advise soonest possible

I was just wondering if you knew how far in advance I’m allowed to renew my passport? I’m applying for a UK spouse visa which lasts for 2.5 years, but my passport expires in November 2017. Am I allowed to re-new it this early if I explain to them the reason why?

Just wondering for example if I renew my passport let say this month and decided to changed my photo few month later, can it be allowed ? will the passport number changed and do I have to renew it again? thanks heaps 🙂

I’m a Malaysian currently living in Australia. I have 13 months left on my passport and will be going back to Malaysia next month for a short holiday. I would like to renew my passport in Malaysia when I get there. Will they allow me to renew it even though there would still be 12 months validity left on my current passport?

Hi, just wondering if you could help me out. My niece’s passport is expiring soon and her mum is overseas. Do you know if her parents need to be present for her passport renewal? She is 15. Thanks a million.

Hi. Im leaving to overseas on 6th july n last week Friday i lost my passport otw to imegresen office for renewal. Upon calling them, lost passport procedure takes 5working days to complete. Is there anyway to shortent the process by showing flight details. As i already made police report n necessary documents for my visit to jln duta imegresen office. They ask him to go jln duta.

Hi there..
I have an offer letter from malaysia. Now i am only waiting for the calling visa. It seems it is already 3 months that I am waiting but no feedback still. How many months does it take to process a calling visa?

I think you miss out on one most important part of Malaysia Passport.
Most Malaysians not know about this info including the government staff.

The Malaysia passport number is alphanumeric, with a letter followed by an eight-digit number, e.g. A00000000. The letter prefix depends on the residency status of the bearer: “A” for Peninsular Malaysia and Labuan, “H” for Sabah and “K” for Sarawak.

For example, baby that born in Sarawak or in Peninsular Malaysia or oversea if parents of the baby are passport holder of “K” and both are Sarawakians, by default, baby will be issued with passport of “K”.

Please include this info in your article. This is important piece of information because it will be a huge hassle if the baby received passport of “A” if baby’s parents are Sarawakians and both passport holder of “K”.

It is not easy to enter Sabah/Sarawak if baby are passport holder of “A” but baby is Sabahan/Sarawakian because Sabah/Sarawak immigration will not consider the baby as native of these states which each time they entering into the states, they will need to provide their passport instead of their identification card. Worst case scenario, they will treated as outsider instead being a natives of Sabah/Sarawak.

I was desperate . How to get my passport quickly now. Been to the high com in Ghana where i currently live. What i was told is to wait. Have been waiting since Feb 13 . I have to travel to UK for an important function . Please advise

Hi Emila, MashAllah I am soo amazed with you, how helpful and kind you are in helping people on this matter. You are such talented and gifted person in same time have such a good heart. I was searching for your email, but couldn’t find. Wonder possible to email you instead posting publicly.

Newcomer here, I want to say thank you you for all your hadwork. Really appreciate.
I have some questions, my passport has been expired for a couple of years.(Probably more than 10 years) Can I follow the procedure as passport renewal ?? If so, I plan to do at UTC Pudu Sentral Immigration Office, can I get my new passport on the same day ?? and is there anything I need to look out ?? Hope you receive your reply.

Yes sure. Just bring your old passport. They need your IC, 2 passport photos and RM200 for the new passport (5 years standard). If you don’t have the photos, they offer the photo service there. If you are below 18, you need to bring one of your parents and your birth cert.